Bhopal/Jabalpur/Mumbai: Police in Jabalpur registered an FIR against actor Nayanthara and makers of the Netflix movie “Annapoorani” after Hindu Seva Parishad filed a complaint accusing them of hurting religious sentiments. The film was no longer available on Netflix at the time of going to print on Thursday.

In Mumbai, two separate police complaints were filed by Bajrang Dal and Hindu IT Cell activists against the actor and others associated with the film for remarks about Ram and for allegedly promoting “love jihad”.

PTI quoted an official as saying a complaint was submitted by Bajrang Dal activists to Oshiwara police station two days ago, and an inquiry was underway. Another complaint was filed at Lokmanya Tilak Marg police station by Hindu IT Cell founder Ramesh Solanki who alleged the film demeans Ram and was released to hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.

In Jabalpur, Omti police station registered a case under IPC Sections 153 (wanton provocation with intent to cause riot) and 34 (common intention) following a complaint from the Jabalpur-based outfit on Wednesday. Apart from Nayanthara, the FIR names six others—Zee Entertainment CEO Punit Goenka, film director Neelesh Krishna, producers Jatin Sethi and R Ravindran, Shariq Patel and Monika Shergill of Netflix India.

Hindu Seva Parishad president Atul Jaiswani alleged that the movie has “inappropriate references” for Ram and promotes “love jihad”. In a scene, the daughter of a priest is shown wearing a hijab to cook biryani and is shown offering namaz. Ram is depicted as eating meat after hunting animals during his exile, the complaint says.

In another scene, PTI quoted the complaint as saying, Farhaan, friend of the character played by Nayanthara, brainwashes her into cutting meat and says Ram and Sita had also consumed meat.

“The complainant has so far not visited the police station. We are waiting for him to appear before the police so that we can take further course of action (sic),” the official in Mumbai was quoted by PTI as saying.

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After landing in legal trouble over allegations of hurting religious sentiments, Nayanthara-starrer Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food has been taken off Netflix. The film released in theatres on December 1 and started streaming on December 29. Sometime ago, protests erupted claiming it “offends Hindu religious sentiments”, and an FIR was lodged against the makers and cast in Mumbai on Monday.

The film follows a Brahmin woman (Nayanthara) who aims to become India’s top chef. Reportedly, the offensive portions depict the character cooking meat wearing a hijab.

The film’s co-producer Zee Studios has also issued an official apology and assured that the controversial scenes in the film will be removed for a re-release. Zee Studios are planning to release a statement soon, we have learnt from sources. Meanwhile, there was no response from Netflix till the time of going to press.